Firm size and its impact on continuous improvement

Building on a volume of previous work on continuous improvement (CI) in the supply chain based on the continuous improvement in manufacturing activity (CIMA) model, this paper extends earlier work by examining the influences of firm size CI. Findings of this study provide support for earlier studies, which held that firm size generally has little influence on CI innovation activity. However, this study provides a finer grained analysis of the relationship between firm size and both the manner in which CI is undertaken and the benefits flowing from CI. This study reinforces previous evidence that management in organisations should give serious consideration to strategies which enhance the spread of CI activities throughout their organisations.